Archive for July, 2010
#1 – The Vision Is Not Clear - If people don’t know where a church is supposed to be going…then it will attempt to go everywhere and eventually wind up nowhere. (Interesting experiment–ask people this coming Sunday at your church, “What is our vision” and see if people give you the same answers or different ones. BTW…NewSpring Church…THURSDAY NIGHT we are rolling out our NEW vision statement…can’t wait!)
#2 – The Focus Is On Trying To Please Everyone – There is NO church on the planet that will make everyone happy every single week…and…according to the Scriptures that isn’t really supposed to be our obsession. Too many times we become so concerned with offending people that we actually offend Jesus.
#3 – Passionless Leadership – When a leader does what he/she does for a paycheck and not because its their passion…it’s over. I’ve said at this site before…I want difference makers not paycheck takers. AND…also…it is hard to be passionate about a place when a persons average stay at a church is two years or less.
#4 – Manufacturing Energy – If a program is dead in a church…then it needs a funeral and the people need to move on. Investing time, energy and money into something that is dead will not revive it. Celebrate the fact that “that” program had its day…and then move on. AND…quit trying to fire people up over events that you would not attend if you were not on staff.
#5 – Lack of Prayer – Many times we work so hard putting our ideas together than we actually think there is no need for the supernatural power of God to be involved. Prayer should not be the good luck charm that we stick at the beginning or the end of what we do…but rather it should be our constant desperation to see God do the undeniable among us. Intense desperation often brings undeniable revelation!
#6 – Unwillingness To Take Risks – When our focus becomes to play it safe rather than to do whatever it takes to reach people far from God…it’s over. NOWHERE in the Scriptures did God ever ask anyone to do anything that didn’t involved an “oh crap” moment. We’ve GOT to be willing to embrace the uncertain if we want to see the unbelievable.
#7 – Disobedience To The Scriptures – Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 19:10…I could go on and on…but we MUST understand that Jesus didn’t come to earth, live here for 33 years years, give HIS life for us and then return back to heaven to intercede for us so that we could get in really little circles and talk about ourselves and condemn those who are not as good as us. We are called to REACH PEOPLE FROM GOD–PERIOD!
#8 – Selfish Attitudes – Matthew 20:28 says it all…and if we are going to be more like Jesus we’ve GOT to serve others rather than expecting the church to be our servant all of the time. When a person (or group of people) refuse to embrace that a call to follow Jesus is a call to serve…then we’ve lost sight of who He is and eventually we will make being a Christian all about Jesus following/serving us rather than us taking up our cross and following Him!
Source: perry
When is civil disobedience something that we, as Christians, both approve of and participate in? Ever?
In the end George and Colson tells us that we must be ready to draw a “line in the sand” as Christians. Obviously the “line” is the line of civil disobedience. This can come in many forms. Indeed, it has come in many forms. Civil disobedience, many would say, is an implied constitutional right and obligation of the citizens of America when the government does cross a line (as the constitution was more about limiting the government than it was limiting the people). Failure to respond to this call of action could ironically be rebellion against our constitution and the principles upon which this country was founded. Civil unrest starts with a utilization of the means provided within the law. When unproductive, it turns into civil disobedience (as was the case in the 1960s when civil rights was at issue). Next rebellion. Then all out revolution.
My questions for you are many:
Is Chuck Colson really making a “call to arms” in America?
How do we know when the line is crossed?
Is there any issue right now that justifies such a call to arms as Colson seems to be suggesting? Sanctity of life? Dignity of marriage? Religious freedom? These are the three that George suggested.
Would you respond to a “call to arms” for any of these?
Source: C Michael Patton
The conversation in Michael’s recent post on Life Church highlighted one crucial element of the church – the preaching of the gospel. The gospel is the backbone of the church. It is what Christ did so that lost people can be reconciled to God. So the issue of whether there is a clear articulation of it is crucial for those who have not trusted in Christ to understand.
And this is the crux of the argument involving seeker sensitive churches, as was noted in the Life Church conversation. The issue is whether church is for believers or to invite the lost in and have a service geared towards them. Being geared towards them will involve a proclamation of the gospel. In this way, it is common to reference the gospel with evangelism. However, the inference behind this statement is that the gospel is just for beginners. I believe that the underlying sentiment with this stance is that once a person has accepted the gospel, it is time to move on to other things involving sanctification. We preach the gospel for the lost but believers need something different.
This has been my experience in the evangelical churches I have been a part of, to more or less degrees. There is worship in music, worship in giving, worship in preaching of the Word. This is all for believers. We know what Christ did and are reminded from time to time, most notably through the Lord’s table. But there is a sense that believers do not need to hear the gospel preached.
But I would assert that the gospel is just a part of the sanctification for the believer as it is the message for the unbeliever. The gospel proclaims that
- All mankind is condemned before God because of sin
- We are separated from God and without hope
- God made provisions for sin to be atoned for
- Jesus Christ took the penalty of sin on the cross
- He lives and sits on the right hand of the Father, making intercession
The believer is justified in Christ. But the same justification serves as the foundation for a fruitful walk with Christ. Christ’s sacrifice enables the believer to rest in the provision of that sacrifice. This is why I believe Paul indicated his main job was to continually point to Christ in whom the previous mystery was revealed, so that each person would be taught who they are based on this provision and how spiritual maturity is sourced in the work and person of Christ. (Colosssians 1:24-29). When Paul talks about the equipping of the saints for the work of service it is so members of the body of Christ will “attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). This knowledge is not some esoteric, supernatural insight of something that the gospel hasn’t revealed. Rather it is deeper insight into the gospel itself.
The gospel reminds the believer that they brought nothing to the table with respect to their right standing with God. That is not something we leave at the front gate to pursue Christianity without. In fact, that is why Paul got so miffed at the Galatians citing that they begun in the Spirit but deemed it necessary to carry out their Christian life absent the very thing that gave them life (Galatians 3:3). They apparently thought, as do many Christians today I believe, that the gospel was for beginners but not necessarily pertinent to what they needed to grow in their walk.
Without the foundation of the gospel, sanctification can become a process of sin management. It places a focus on the dos and don’ts of Christianity. Avoid this, don’t go there, do this….This is precisely what new life in Christ was intended to avoid. Paul indicates in Romans 7:7-14, that highlighting the sin to avoid will only make one gravitate towards it. He then indicates in vv 15-23 there will always be a struggle with sin such that only the power of Christ through the spirit will enable victory (Romans 7:24-8:13).
Therefore, the gospel ensures dependence on the work of the Spirit, since it is he who enables the believer to walk according to the gospel. The Spirit bears testimony to Christ and facilitates obedience to the gospel. I am convinced that when Jesus talks about obedience to him, he is not referring to an emulation of activities per se, but of a reliance on his work and person that produces works sourced in what he came to accomplish. We are able to accomplish this work because of the indwelt Spirit and his gifting.
This also extends to the work of the body of Christ as an extension of Christ himself. The body of Christ, the church, is to expressly carry out the purpose of God through Christ (Ephesians 3:9-11). That requires a dependence on Christ and an interdependence on one another. Our ability to love one another and serve the body, both individually and corporately, is sourced in the work of Christ and should be carried out according to our individual gifting and desire to see the work of Christ accomplished. 1 Corinthians 12 is very telling in this regard. The corporate function is to reveal Christ. That is gospel.
The gospel is the foundation of our Christian being. Spiritual maturity requires the gospel on an on-going basis. Growth and true fellowship cannot happen without it. So the next time we think the gospel is just for beginners, or that it is a message for only the lost, lets think again.
Source: Lisa Robinson